Window carton with cushioning structure



Sept. 24, 1957 R. A. COTE 2,807,404

wmoow CARTON WITH cusmoumc STRUCTURE Filed June 9; 1955 other fragile articles.

United States PatentfO WINDOW-CARTON .wiTn CUSHIGNING STRUCTURE Raymond A. Cote, Philadelphia, Pa., assigns: to Can- ;tainer Corporation of America, Chicago, liih, a corporation ofDel-aware Application June 9, 1955, Serial No. 514,353

3 Claims. ,(Cl. 229-27) The present invention relates to collapsible'folding car- Ions andmore particularly to a form of folding carton .which has combined therewith cushioning structureto give added protection to contents such as bottles and An object of the invention is to provide a simple, effective and easily manufactured, collapsible carton which has cushioning structure combined therewith and which can readily be produced on conventional folding andglumachinery.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folding carton with cushioning structure combined with display or window openings and wherein portions removed from a wall to provide a display window are preserved and utilized to form internal cushioning means. 7

A further-object of the invention is to provide a neat and attractive, yet economical, display carton which can be manufactured ina flat, collapsed, tubular form, and whichtprovides display windows in twoopposite sidewalls with cushioningmeansdisposed at each side of the winidows, interiorly of the carton.

.A still further object of .the invention is to provide a collapsible, tubular. carton formed from a single blank .of, paperboard, the carton having window openings in two opposed, relatively wide side walls with internally positioned cushion panelsat the sides .of the windows formed in part from portions cut from one of the .panels -to form the windows therein, and in part from an exten fsion atone ,end of the paperboard blank whereby, when paperboard is employed having a relatively costly lined surface on one side combined with'less costly materials for .the body of the paperboard, the cushion panels will :be so formed that the morelattractive surfacewillshow through the window openings and the total eifect will be a display carton in which a highly pleasingappearance will be obtained from relatively inexpensive paperboard.

Additional objectswill become apparentas the description proceeds. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofa'carton'made in accordance with the present invention showing it in set up condition, and showing certain partspartly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view on a reduced scale,.illustrating the carton as it appears when holding a rectangular shaped bottle such as may bevused for cosmetics and other I liquids;

'Fig. 3 is a plan view of a blank :ton-may be constructed; 7

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the cartonin a fiat, collapsed form; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view taken along line 5- -5 of Fig. 1.

The carton embodying the present invention comprises essentially a tubular construction having suitable closure flaps top and bottom and having two opposite major Wall panels joined to narrower wall panels at the edges from which the car- 2,807,404 Patented S pt. 124, 1957 2 of the carton, the major panels having relatively large display openings to give a frame effect, and thematerial which is cut from one of the openings being left attached along one of the edges and arranged as a vertically disposed cushioning member in the process of constructing the carton. A second vertical cushioning member is 'conveniently provided by forming an extension onthe end of the blank, the result being that a carton is provided that not only gives protection to a bottle of liquid or other fragile article contained therein during handling .and shipment, but also produces a pleasing appearance due to the frame-like effect that is given thecartonhy the formation of the cushioning elements at the sides ofthe windows. 7

Referring more particularly to the drawing sthe car- 'ton is-preferably formed from a single blank of foldable sheet material, such asfolding paperboard, cut and (creased to provide a sidewall 10, an edge ,wall 11, hinged .thereto along crease line 12, a side wall 13 hinged tojthe edge wall 11 along crease line 14, a second edge wall 15 hinged to the second side wall 13 along the crease line 16, and a securing flap 17 along the opposite edge of ,the edge .wall 15 and hinged thereto along crease line 18. The carton, as thus far described, may be secured together in collapsed tubular form by adhesivelysecuring the attaching flap 17 to the edge portion of thesidewall ,10 at the remote end of the cartonLblank. I

The carton is preferably made in the so-called reverse tuck style with a closure 21, which may be termed, the top closure, carried on side wall 10 and defined there.- from by crease line 22. The closure 21 vhas a stuck flap 23 defined therefrom by crease line 24. .Edgewall flaps 25 and26 are carried at the top of the edge walls lland 15 and are hinged thereon along the respective crease lines- 2 7 and 28. A bottom closure3'1-is hinged tovside wall 13 along crease line 32 and carries a tuck fiapr33 hinged thereto along crease line 34. yl laps $5 36 are carried on the lower ends of the edge wallsll and 15 and are defined therefrom by crease lines 57 and 5 8.

Displayopenings are preferably provided in bothside wallpanels, and occupy a major portion of the width of the panels. In the present invention display openinggil cut in panel 10 has the material of the cut portion entirely removed from the panel, In thetside'wall panel 13 ;a out is likewise formed to-provide an opening {2 which extends across major portion of the width of {the wall, but in this instance the material of the cut p ortion is only partly removed, there being left-attached to one edge of the opening 42 a panel 43 hinged along crease line, 44 and carrying at its outer ,edge a securing flap s45 hinged topanel 43 along a crease line 46. Thewidth of the securing flap 45 is preferably such that when the free edge of the flap 45 isin contact with the hinge line between walls '10 and '11, the panel 43 will be in connected relation to the inner face of ,wall panel ,llllsubstantially along, the adjacent ,vertical .edge of ,the'ppening. The panel..43, when thus secured .to .the, wall--10 by means of the securing flap 45, serves asaicushion paneltand at the same time givesa frame-like effect when thepanel '43 is viewed through the ldisplayopenings.

-In order to provide a cushion "or member on tlie-ropiposite sideof theidisplay opening a panel.49 is formed onihe outer edge of securing flap17 and isvhingedvthereto along crease line 50'. The panelll49 carries asecuring :flap 51 =on-its outer edge hinged thereto along. creasedine 52. :The panel 49 is brought .into cushion-forming rei- =lation withithe carton by bringing it to a position substantially parallel with wall 15 and securing the flap 51 flat against the inside face of wall 13 between the vertical edge of the display opening and the hinge line 16, and preferably with the edge of the securing flap 51 resting against the hinge 16. By forming the securing flap 51 of a width equalto the inside dimensions of the wall 13 between the crease line 16 and the adjacent edge of the display opening, the panel 49 will assume, in the set up condition of the box, a position substantially flush with the vertical edge of the opening 42 and thus will serve not only as a cushion on the interior of the carton, but will also give a neat, frame-like appearance to the interior of the carton when viewed throughthe display openings, similar to the cushioning panel 43 previously described.

The form of carton constructed from a single blank of paperboard is well suited to production on high speed folding and gluing mechanism. As illustrated in Fig. 4, showing the blank fromwhich the carton is preferably formed, adhesive may be applied mechanically to three areas, namely, the area 55 at the edge of panel 13 adjacent to the crease line 16, and the areas 56 and 57 at the vertical edges of the window 41 on panel 10.

The glued area 55 preceives contact of the securing flap 51;.area 56 receives contact of the securing flap 45; and area 57receives the contact of the securing flap 17. After the adhesivehas been applied the parts are folded over. ina manner which is well known so that the proper connectingflaps are joined with the areas to which they are to be adhered. The carton is thus formed in flattened or collapsed tubular condition ready to be shipped to the user.

The carton as so constructed has the advantage that it may be made up of relatively inexpensive paperboard of thetype in which only one surface is provided with a clear white or colored liner giving good printability and having an attractive appearance whilethe remainder of the sheet may be of less expensive stock. Due to the fact that the panels 43. and 49 are folded through angles of 180 from their original positions in the blank their better surfacewill be disposed toward the inside of the carton and as these surfaces are viewed through the window openings very little of the reverse side of the paperboard is seen when the carton is viewed in empty condition and this becomes even less when the carton receives desired contents such as a'bottle of perfume, liquid cosmetics or other liquid.

It is thus apparent that there is provided a carton that not only is well adapted to display contents contained therein but at the same time will provide a substantial measure of protection for fragile articles. Packing of articles contained in such cartons in multiple groups such as in shipping containers can be simplified as it is only necessary in many cases to place flat protecting pads betweentheadjacentwide faces of the individual packages and no 'protecting 'members need be placed adjacent the edge" portions of the packages.

While the present description sets forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, numerous changes may be made in, the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

1. A collapsible paperboard display carton having opposed, relatively wide side walls of equal width and opposed, relatively narrow edge walls of equal width arranged in tubular form, one edge wall having a securing flap for securing such edge wall to the edge portion of a side wall, the securing flap having an extension panel thereon arranged to be secured interiorly of the carton and in substantial parallelism with the edge wall on which it is carried whereby to form a cushion member, and cuts in each of the side walls forming window openings having edges approximately aligned with the plane of the cushion panel, the stock cut from one side wall to form its display window being left hinged to an edge thereof parallel with the tubular axis of the carton, to provide a second cushion panel of a width commensurate with the edge wall width, and means for securing the second cushion panel in parallelism with the edge wall opposite to that carrying the first mentioned cushion panel.

2. A one piece collapsible display carton comprising a first side Wall and a second side wall disposed in spaced substantially parallel relation, a first edge wall extending between said side walls and integrally attached thereto along fold lines, a second edge wall extending between said side walls and integrally attached at one edge along a fold line to said second side wall, said first side wall having therein an opening of substantial area the sides of which are substantially parallel with said edge walls and said second side wall having an opening therein similar to and aligned with said opening in said first side wall, a first securing flap integrally attached at its outer edge along a fold line to the other edge of said second edge wall and secured to the adjacent edge portion of said first side wall with its inner edge substantially in register with the adjacent side of said opening, a cushion panel integrally attached at one edge along a fold line to the inner edge of said flap and extending therefrom to said second side wall in substantial parallelism with said second edge wall, a second securing flap integrally attached along a fold line to the other edge of said cushion panel andextending therefrom toward said second edge wall, said second securing flap seating on and being secured to the inner face of said second side wall, a second cushion panel cut from said opening in said second side wall integrally attached at one edge thereto along a fold line at the side of said opening adjacent said first edge wall and extending therefrom to said first side wall in substantial parallelism with said first edge wall, and a securing flap integrally attached at its inner edge along a fold line to the other edge of said second cushion panel and extending therefrom toward said first edge wall, said last mentioned securing flap seating on and being secured to the inner face of said first side wall.

3. A collapsible paperboard display carton having opposed, relatively wide side walls of equal width and opposed, relatively narrow edge walls of equal width arranged in tubular form, one edge wall having a securing flap for securing such edge wall to the edge portion of a side wall, the securing flap having an extension panel thereon arranged to be secured interiorly of the carton and in substantial parallelism with the edge wall on which it is carried whereby to form a cushion member, and a cut in one side wall forming a window opening having edges approximately aligned with the plane of the cushion panel, the stock cut from said one side wall to form its display window being left hinged to an edge thereof parallel with the tubular axis of the carton, to provide a second cushion panel of a width commensurate with the edge wall width, and means for securing the second cushion panelin paralleli-sm with the edge Wall opposite to that carrying the first mentioned cushion panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,021,998 Myers Apr. 2, 1912 1,124,175 Sackett Ian. 5, 1915 2,060,513 Marx Nov. 10, 1936 2,112,062 Berger Mar. 22, 1938 2,593,333 Myers Apr. 15, 1952 2,638,210 Sparks May 12, 1953 

